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"There
may always be a human sense of separation; but the reality is that we
can never be separated. What accounts for that sometimes
persistent sense of separation? It begins with us at the moment we
start to believe in two powers: God and something else."
- Dr.
O. C. Smith, Founding Minister, City of Angels Church of Religious
Science, Los Angeles, California; Grammy Award Singer, Author, 1936-2001
Throughout
the years many metaphysical writers have written their interpretations
of the "Lord's Prayer" and some have gone so far as to
translate it into the Aramaic, which was the language of Jesus.
But, translations are useless unless we understand the spirit in which
the prayer was given and interpretations fall short unless we can
greater understand and use the prayer to our own benefit or the benefit
of the world. This prayer has been in the collective consciousness
for centuries ... and is therefore in the "subjective" mind of
mankind ... and its benefits are Universal.
Keep uppermost in your mind, as you read this
message, that Jesus was Jewish ... His belief in one, all-powerful God
made Him, and the Jewish People unique in ancient times. And the Jewish
concept of God is Judaism's legacy to the Western world ... and is the
same Principle taught in the Science of Mind. Having stated this, the
following is my interpretation of the "Lord's Prayer" and some
of it will be familiar to you ... and some of it may not be, and some of
it I have borrowed from others:
Our
Father which art in heaven,
Dr. O.
C. Smith writes in his book, "Little
Green Apples," ... when Jesus uttered the Lord's Prayer, the
greatest prayer ever spoken, He began it by saying, "Our
Father" - yours and mine - because He knew that this Infinite
Presence and Love that God Is, which permeates the Universe and created
us, is the same loving Presence that created Him. In other words,
what Jesus was seeking to share with us was the Truth that we are all
made out of the same substance, the same "stuff."
Therefore when we pray, we don't pray to It; we
pray "as It." Jesus said, "I and my Father [this
Infinite Love and Wisdom] are One." He knew there was no
place where It ended and He began. That is why He said,
"our." He knew that the same Principle applied to all
mankind throughout eternity. We can never be separated from this
Loving Presence.
Hallowed
be Thy name.
When
we recognize, God, Infinite Presence, we recognize the sacredness of our
One-ness with Its nature; love, peace, harmony, joy, happiness, beauty
and intelligence. And as we enter into this Presence in our mind,
we align ourselves with Its nature ... and It responds to us.
Thy
kingdom is come,
All that God Is, is Good ... and
this Good is available to us now ... but, it is up to us to accept it
and "let" God work through us in expressing the Good that we
desire. It is the Truth that God can only do for us ... what God
can do through us ... in other words we must heal our mind of anything
that prevents us from realizing
that the Infinite supports us in our Good.
Thy
will be done,
Since
God has created us as volitional beings ... with the ability to choose
... God's will for us is to choose ... and it will be done unto us as we
choose ... through our thoughts, our beliefs and our willingness to
demonstrate faith.
On
earth as it is in heaven.
Nothing is withheld from us.
Nothing ... if we can only believe that we "have it now."
And we don't have to believe that we have it in the "physical"
... only in the "spirit" ... and this "believing" is
the state of our mind that allows God to manifest our Good in our human
affairs ... through us ... right here where we are ... just as we know
it is so in mind. In affirmative prayer ... we bring heaven [that
which we are in the spirit of] to earth ... into the situations,
circumstances and conditions of our life.
Give
us this day our daily bread;
Not only does God answer our
prayers for the things we think are important, but for even the smallest
of things that we may want or need. God is the Source of
everything, and in this statement we are acknowledging that we
understand this ... and we accept our Good.
And
forgive us our debts, as
we forgive our debtors;
Our mind must be free and open to
the Divine impulse of ideas and guidance. As long as we are
thinking someone owes us something ... or that we owe someone something
... our mind is not "free" ... it is being disturbed by an
un-truth ... in the spirit there is no debt for on this higher level of
Mind, we are One ... these debts are not financial ... they are
spiritual; shame, blame, guilt, etc. ... in this statement we free
ourselves from the false belief in karma ... and in the moment we do,
our mind is open to the influx of power and guidance of Spirit.
And
lead us not into temptation, but
deliver us from evil.
Dr. Joseph Murphy has stated over
and over again that "nothing is good or bad, only thinking makes it
so" ... and in this higher understanding of life we are free from
"self-depreciation" ... the temptation to put ourselves down
and the temptation to put someone else down ... both which create a
negative atmosphere in our minds. Our thoughts cannot be focused
on that which is for an expansion and increase of Good in our life ...
if we are dwelling on the negative. All that we are is Good [God].
For
Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever.
All Life Is God ... there is none
other. All Power Is God ... any seeming other-power is an illusion
of our minds. Whatever we accomplish, is for the glory of God ...
for without the Spirit of Life within us, working through us, as us and
for us ... we can do nothing. The Master Mind Jesus stated,
"I of mine own self ... can do nothing" ... and neither can
we.
The Lord's Prayer is a
spiritual mind treatment in that each statement creates an
"action" in mind ... an
action that creates an expansion in mind of our relationship with God
... empowering us to live a more fulfilling and abundant life.
AND SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev. Hank
Bates
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